Is everything a reflection of God - the first Cause?

There are no external causes of a person's choices—only external influences

I realise that people aren't put in boxes as to what will cause them to do certain actions, that is why we talk about influences rather than causes. However, that is only a calculability issue. What it comes down to is that external influences mean that they influence or have a definite effect on the object. IMO an influence cannot logically have much of an effect in Freewill thought or else that would be manipulation towards a definite end, thus severely questioning our "free choices". This influence is demonstrated in the existence of culture and cyclic generational learnings as I mentioned prior. Can we really ultimately blame a lazy person involved in a "group think" mentality for choosing to succumb to the strong influences around them? Even if the minority do choose against this influence in the end, I wonder what effect the influence was REALLY having on them? What is the point of an influence having an effect on an object if it merely suggests an outcome, when it is so evident that influences really do determine (to a degree) what lifestyle one can have?Can we really call people who are involved in cyclic generational family abuse responsible for carrying that abuse onto their children? Can we really call people who are from positive families responsible for reflecting that positive environment onto their children?I didn't "freely" choose a positive lifestyle for my family, I was taught it from the very effective influences around me (Thank God for that). From that, I can't then reach out and blame those in abusive families for not exercising their free wills to create positive environments "like I have", because I believe that influences actually manipulate our "free wills".